Environmental Close-Up: Food Additives
Food additives are chemicals added to food before its sale. They have several purposes:
- To prolong the storage life of the food.
- To make the food more attractive by adding color or flavor.
- To modify nutritive value.
Many kinds of molecules are added to foods to prolong shelf life. Calcium propionate is added to baked goods to retard the growth of airborne spores of molds and bacteria on the food, which can spoil it. BHT, TBHQ, and other commonly seen alphabetic mixtures have a similar function.
Sometimes additives are used just to make the food appear more attractive. For years, red dye II was used to color a variety of foods. Its use was discontinued when it was found to be carcinogenic. Other food colorings are still widely used to increase appeal to the consumer. Many kinds of artificial flavors are added to products as well. Commonly used flavor enhancers are monosodium glutamate, table salt, and citric acid.
Other food additives are used to modify the nutritive value of the food product. Iodine in table salt is a good example. Iodine is a trace element required for proper thyroid functioning. Individuals suffering from a lack of iodine often develop an enlargement of the thyroid gland known as goiter. The addition of iodine to table salt has eliminated goiter in the United States. Most cereals and baked goods and many other products have various vitamins and minerals added to improve their nutritive value. Some additives, such as Nutrisweet, reduce the calories while giving the consumer the sensation of tasting something sweet.
Some additives are an unavoidable residue of some step of the food production process and could more properly be called contaminants. Pesticide residues are an example. Pesticides are used to grow foods, but they are also used to eliminate pests in the storing, processing, and transportation steps of food production.
Diethylstibestrol (DES) was at one time used in the poultry industry to produce fatter birds. Because there were indications that DES is carcinogenic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of DES in chickens and declared that it was potentially hazardous to humans. Further studies were conducted to determine if DES was safe to use in raising beef. Cattle gain weight more rapidly with DES in their feed. Because DES was eventually linked to breast cancer in women, it has been banned from all animal feed use in the United States and Europe.